Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2010, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 333-343
Spatial and temporal analysis of thermal anomalies
as earthquake precursors
B.S. Zhukov
1, W. Halle
2, G. Schlotzhauer
2, D. Oertel
21 Space Research Institute, RAS, 117997 Moscow, Profsoyuznaya 84/32
2 DLR Institut für Robotik und Mechatronik - Optische Informationssysteme, 12489 Berlin, Rutherfordstrasse 2
The potential of thermal anomalies as earthquake precursors was analyzed using an 8-year (from 1997 till 2004)
temporal series of AVHRR/NOAA IR daily temperature measurements over the Ionian Sea and Greece. Thermal
anomalies were detected using thresholding of the «signal-to-noise ratio» (SNR), where background temperature
variations were considered as noise. The case study of the 14 August 2003 Greek earthquake showed that sea surface
temperature anomalies with SNR>3 in multiple areas along the boundary between the Eurasian and African
plates can be reasonably related to the impending earthquake. Reliability of using land surface temperature anomalies
for earthquake forecasting was not confirmed in this case.
Keywords: earthquake precursors, thermal anomalies, satellite thermal IR observations, 14 August 2003 Greek earthquake
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